Part of Uriel hoped that Hegashi wouldn't fall for it. It hoped that he would say no, tell him to stay close, that he couldn't stray too far for this or that reason. It hoped that they would pay for these clothes, and they would go home, and Hegashi would fuck the life out of him, like he had promised.
But that didn't happen. Hegashi did fall for it, and Uriel's window for escape was wide open. He could just not take it; he could go and grab a sweater and add it to the pile of clothes they were purchasing, and pretend that he had never thought about running. However, Uriel wasn't stupid enough to chance his freedom just for a man he had met a few days ago, a man who had purchased him from an illegal slave auction. Taking a deep breath, Uriel detached himself from the situation, and focused on one thing only: freedom.
Casting one last furtive glance at Hegashi, Uriel smiled sadly, and slunk off to approach the clothing rack, his diversion. At first, he pretended to genuinely be engrossed by the lame sweaters, filing through the rack. He looked up every now and then to watch for his perfect opening, and all too soon, he found it. Hegashi was chatting away with the cashier, and was pulling out his wallet to pay for the clothes Uriel had made him buy.
Before he had time to talk himself out of it, Uriel bolted.
He shut his mind off. He let the adrenaline fuel his body, and dominate the pain in his legs, so it wouldn't slow him down. He weaved between displays, amber eyes darting helplessly around the store to find the nearest exit. The moment his eyes locked onto it, he picked up speed, running as fast as physically possible. Before he lost himself completely to his primitive drive, he focused on changing his lavender locks to black; unfortunately he struggled with it, this time, and was only able to change part of his hair, instead of all of it. His left ear faded to its natural white, as did a streak near his fringe.
He had absolutely no idea where he was going, but that didn't slow him down. He was running purely on instinct. He knew if he ran for long enough in one direction, he'd eventually find an exit. Before long, his lungs started to burn, and he could feel the cold grasp of anxiety start to creep up his ankles, threatening to pull him under. Was he actually going to be able to escape? Why did he still feel so guilty about leaving Hegashi? Where was he going to go?
For what felt like the thousandth time that day, he felt tears burn in his eyes, but this time he was helpless to stop them from falling. He was in a crowded public place, in a town that he wasn't familiar with, running from the only man who had ever shown him genuine affection. There was nothing about this situation that wasn't worth crying over - not that he currently possessed the focus to stop himself from crying, even if he wanted to.
Uriel wasn't sure just how long he was running until he saw the faintest glimmer of hope in the distance: an exit door. He was close now; once he was out of the mall, he had a much better chance of losing Hegashi completely. Then, he could find a bus terminal, and creep onto a bus that was parked with its doors open, waiting to drive off. Or he could flag down a taxi, and offer to pay his fare with his body. Anything. He would do anything to get out of this wretched place.
But nothing in life was ever this easy.
A hand, one that may as well have apparated from the goddamn ether for all Uriel could see, grabbed his shoulder, and Uriel's world went blank.
This isn't going to hurt. I promise, mon petit chat.
Uriel's eyes went wide, and he stopped breathing. He could feel their fucking breath on his skin, the clammy hands that pushed his shoulders down as they stabbed him in the neck with a syringe full of the drug that would keep him unconscious for over a week. The sensation of one hand turned to two, three, four, all grabbing at him, spreading his legs and leaving bruises on his skin. He couldn't let this happen again. He couldn't, he was stronger than this, he wasn't some little bitch who was going to roll over and let the world do whatever it wanted to him!
Heaving, Uriel spun around swinging, his fist immediately connecting with the face of his supposed assailant with a sickening crack.
Colour faded back into his surroundings as the crowd around him gasped and murmured. The woman he had just hit stumbled backwards onto the ground, staring at him with wide, stunned eyes as she clutched a hand to her face. Uriel's chest continued to heave, as his own eyes widened in response.
"I - I just wanted to know if you were okay," the woman babbled, clearly shaken. Uriel felt his stomach roil as he took a few shaky steps backward. He had just punched an innocent person. An innocent woman, someone who had probably seen how distressed he looked, and wanted to make sure he was all right. Uriel whimpered, covering his mouth, as he stared on in horror.
"N-no," he sputtered, continuing to slowly step away, "No, I need to go. I need to - I need to get out of here. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I'm so, so --"
Uriel stumbled backward, right into the firm chest of a mall security guard. Shrieking at the unexpected contact, Uriel spun around again, feeling dizzy from all the sudden movement. The behemoth of a man stared down at him, brows furrowed, and Uriel felt sick again. He felt like he was about to crumble; he couldn't regulate his breathing, and the edges of his vision were turning black. He vaguely heard the voice of the woman he had just assaulted in the background, maybe trying to explain away what had just happened, and he watched the lips of the security guard move, but couldn't make out words. His legs were wobbling, his knees threatening to buckle.
"No," he gasped pathetically. "No, no, no. I need to... I need to go..."
"You can't go," said the security officer. "You just assaulted someone. You have to come with me."
"No," Uriel repeated, louder this time. "No, I can't, I --" The wail that ripped out of his lungs as the security officer forcefully pulled both of his arms behind his back was haunting. He shrunk in on himself, tail blown out, ears flat against his head as he hissed pathetically. He tried to squirm out of the man's grip, but it was impossible; he was too strong. He thought, desperately, that he should just shift into a feline and escape, but he couldn't. He couldn't focus on it, and he didn't have the energy; he had wasted it all on changing his fucking hair colour!
He struggled the rest of the way to the security office, which wasn't very far away; that was the only reason the guard was able to approach the situation so quickly. Regardless of actual time, it felt like an eternity to Uriel. It felt like his flesh was burning under the man's massive hands, and he could still feel the presence of his abductors, despite the fact that they were never there to begin with.
"Please, you have to let me go," he pleaded, trying his hardest to sound coherent despite the steady stream of tears pouring down his face. "Please, please, please!" The security guard shut the door behind him, leading Uriel to a chair in front of the office desk. Almost immediately after being seated, Uriel tried to launch back onto his feet and run, but the guard had a firm grip on his shoulder.
"You just assaulted someone," the man repeated gruffly, clearly frustrated with the disobedient little shifter. "You have to stay here until the police come."
Uriel heaved, this time out of nausea, though nothing came up. "No," he babbled, squeezing his eyes shut. "I have to go. You don't understand, I can't stay here, he's going to find me, I --"
He heard a scoff from somewhere else in the room - another guard, maybe? "Listen to him," the other voice mocked. "Is he high, or something?"
The guard holding him down chuckled. "Maybe," he said. "You can never tell with these things."
Uriel hissed again. Things? He was still a person! He wasn't a fucking thing!
"He sounds like a little kitten," the second guard said with a disparaging laugh. "You sure he punched someone?"
"Yup. A lady," said the first guard. "Must be high."
"No!" Uriel shrieked, struggling under the strong grasp of the guard. "I'm not, you don't understand! I need to get out of here before he --"
"What, are you trying to run away from your human?" the first guard asked. Uriel's eyes flew open, red from his tears and wild with fear. His pupils were so constricted that he looked eerie, a pale face swallowed by amber orbs.
"I have no human!" he hissed. This caused both guards to erupt in raucous laughter. Another suffocating emotion bubbled up from the depths of Uriel's mind: humiliation.
"A pretty little thing like you?" asked the first guard. "That's a good one. Looks like the lady might not want to press charges, so if you're good, maybe we'll just release you to your human, and he can deal with you. I'm sure he's looking for you."
"Yeah. Wonder how he let this one slip by? He's probably pissed. Might smack him around a little."
A derisive laugh. "I'd pay to see that."
Uriel struggled in the man's grip again, as the two pigs continued to laugh at his expense. Embarrassment burned hot in his veins. He knew that humans didn't think highly of shifters, but this was so... raw. He was so fragile right now that this taunting, something that would normally roll right off his shoulders, affected him to his core. He let out a pained sob as he realized that, no matter where he was, no matter what he did, this was all he would be. He would always be at risk of becoming some human's slave, some human's plaything. Was there even any point to running away? At least Hegashi would treat him like an equal. At least Hegashi would --
Another sob racked his body. "Hegashi," he rasped, giving both the guards pause as his small body shook with the force of his tears, "I'm so sorry."